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Dozens Killed, Execution Style in Iraq; Anti-Bullying Program at Maryland School; FBI Investigating Letters Sent to U.S. Governors

Aired April 03, 2010 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A gunman murdered 25 Iraqi in a village outside Baghdad. Authorities say it appears to be the work of al Qaeda. Most of the victims were members of a U.S.-backed group aimed at stopping al Qaeda violence.

The FBI is investigating letters sent to at least 30 U.S. Governors in this country from a group that calls itself the Guardians of the Free Republic. That group's Website calls for the peaceful termination of the federal government. The letters call on governor's to vacate their posts within 30 days or actually within three days. These letters does not contain any specific credible threats.

All right. Back now to bullying in schools. Studies tell us about one in three kid's age 12 to 18 have been bullied at school. There may be more unreported cases.

Let's bring in our CNN student news anchor Carlo Azuz. You're hearing from young people all the time, but on this topic bullying, what are folks saying?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: We've gotten hundreds of comments at cnnstudentnews.com. While the studies you cited a moment ago talks about how maybe 1/3 of students had been bullied, we asked students who witnessed it at CNNstudentnews.com. This isn't a scientific poll. But of the students who logged on you can see that 90 percent of those had seen it in some form. That includes physical, verbal and cyber bullying.

WHITFIELD: Did many of them reveal whether they actually tried to do something about it to intervene, to help?

AZUZ: They have some advice on how they can cope with bullying. The first thing for you parents out there, I want to give you a sense of what some students are dealing with. We have a comment from Josh and Chandler today. And this first comment talks about perspective of a student saying how are you going to feel when someone is always hurting you. You feel like you can't tell anyone because you don't want to be a tattletale and you don't want to be a wimp. A lot of kids are saying you don't want to be labeled a snitch and some are saying they don't report it as much because they are afraid that the bully might retaliate.

WHITFIELD: So they just kind of take it? They then insulate themselves with this experience. But then does that mean a lot of kids who are reaching out to you say that it really does have to be up to school administrators, parents, somebody to intervene or notice so that these kids don't feel like they are going to get in more trouble if they are a tattletale if that is the word they want to use?

AZUZ: Some of them do bring up telling people. As you heard Kate Bolduan say awhile ago that a program encourages students to tell people. Some of them are saying tell an adult you trust on the topic. Go to somebody you know will take action about this and let them know. There are a couple of pieces of advice we've gotten from members of our student audience. We had a student named Ray that was telling us that Forrest Gump had the best option on bullying, best idea, run.

On the other side of that Ray is saying get out of the way. But then Jessica here is saying bullying will always happen. She thinks there are ways to tone it down. She says stand up for someone you see being bullied is always good. Some students say stand up to the bully yourself no matter what. Then as I mentioned, there are a lot of students who are saying no matter who it is, if you trust somebody go to that person and tell them. At least let somebody know this is the situation taking place in your school.

WHITFIELD: Yes, oh, Jessica I like what she says. Because it's got to be disarming if you're being bullied and you turn around and let that bully know you are not going to take this anymore without offering threats of violence or anything like that. It might be rather disarming for that person who is bullying because it will catch them off guard and make them stop.

AZUZ: Sure and let them know that you are not going to take it.

WHITFIELD: It's so sad. All this growing up and bullying reached a whole new level. Carl Azuz thanks so much. Appreciate it.

AZUZ: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: So for more ways to stop bullying there is a resource for parents and young kids. Visit Stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov. You'll find cartoon websites, tips for kids and as well as signs for parents to find out if their child is being bullied. And our Carl Azuz is with us from CNNstudentnews.com. That is a location that could be a great resource for you, as well if you want to check that out.

A virtual solution to a real world problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We are taking fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The military is using gaming technology to prepare troops for the thread of IEDs in Afghanistan. We will go along for a rather terrifying ride.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A massacre in Iraq, 25 people have been shot and killed in a Sunni village near Baghdad. It happened last night about 15 miles south of the capital. Officials say gunmen wearing military uniforms shot their victims execution style. They say the attackers were driving Iraqi security vehicles. Most of the victims were members of a militia organized by the U.S. to counter the influence of insurgents aligned with al Qaeda. Twenty five suspects are under arrest.

And IEDs or improvised explosive devices are the number one killer of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Now the U.S. military is turning to gaming software to try to counter the deadly threat. CNN's Brian Todd has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Contact, front. Contact to the front.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You are in the lead Humvee in a convoy moving through Kandahar Province. The danger could come from that go to the herder. A chaotic accident scene is too risky to stick around. As you are backing away, the devastating jolt of a roadside bomb. It doesn't hurt anyone and the people buzzing around your vehicle are actors. For Army Sergeant Maria Caulford who's been injured in a real IED attack that killed two fellow solders, this simulation brings back haunting memories.

SGT. MARIA CAULFORD, U.S. ARMY: It's sad to relive it again. I don't want to go through it again. The impact was pretty close.

TODD: Caulford's one of more than a thousand troops who have gone through the IED battle drill, a simulator report used in Virginia designed to recreate the warning signs and often lethal concussions of IED attacks. This is the only device of its kind and it's only been operational for a few months. But U.S. commanders say with IED attacks more than doubling in Afghanistan over the past year, there is an urgent need.

BRIG. GEN. BRIAN LAYER, COMMANDOR, FORT EUSTICE, VIRGINIA: It's the number one threat against our soldiers. A very adaptive enemy, a changing threat. IEDs continue to look different.

TODD: This device is designed to prevent soldiers from getting into those kill zones. Everything in these scenes is recreated from real incidents on the battlefield, some filmed by insurgents themselves. Intelligence is gathered every day at a military op center not far from Ft. Eustice. Terrains, roads, villages, reassembled to the smallest detail on gaming software.

MARK COVEY, SIMULATIONS DEVELOPER: We'll sit out here and we will sit in a video teleconference with the men and woman down in Afghanistan and Iraq, we will gather the data needed and put it into the game, put it into the simulation and make a training product.

TODD: Some of it's tested in 3-d in a room called "The Cave." Hollywood film experts then convert that high tech wizardry into film for the simulation. On my turn inside the Humvee, the adrenalin spikes, knowing a blast could come at any moment. I soon realize this isn't designed to teach you how to drive through danger zones.

One feature we noticed in this simulator in the driver position, where I am, the driver actually does not have control of the vehicle. I want to ask Major Michael Dulgy (ph) who's been through real IED attacks before, why not has a feature in this where the driver is actually driving the vehicle?

MICHAEL DULGY (ph): When we use this trainer, we are looking at tactics, techniques and procedures, crew drills and observables, not so much about how to drive the vehicle.

TODD: Signatures and observables meaning signs of IEDs like disrupted soil and objects moving in your field of vision like the snipers I don't see until we are being hit.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We're taking fire. Sniper fire on the left.

TODD: Only when we slow-mo the video can you see those tiny bright specks moving in the rocks. Insurgents who have ambushed us, just as we are processing that -- we are told the snipers were a distraction on our left. The IED was planted on the right. Major Dulgy says this can't recreate the true adrenalin rush of bullets moving by, the smoke, the smell, what he calls the full body taste of an ambush.

DULGY (ph): For a training environment, this is as good as I can get it.

TODD: Brian Todd, CNN, Ft. Eustis, Virginia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And for gadget geeks out there it's what you've been waiting for at least a lot of you. The latest gizmo from Apple flying off the store shelves like hot cakes, a high-tech expert will tell us if it does live up to its hype.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama says the economy is beginning to turn the corner. He was reacting to the new jobs report which says businesses added 162,000 jobs in March. That's the biggest increase in three years. Despite that, the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent and more than 44 percent of the unemployed have been jobless for at least six months now. The president admits in his words, we're still going through a hard time.

Despite tough economic times, some people always seem to have a little extra cash for the latest high-tech gadgets. Here is an example. Long lines across the country as Apple's new iPad went on sale today in the stores. Hundreds of people were waiting in line when Apple's flagship store opened in New York this morning. The iPad is a tablet size touch screen computer, bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop. Prices range from $499 to $900. Long lines everywhere from Chicago to Miami and there in New York City.

Earlier today we talked with Mario Armstrong of the Digitalspin.com. He is also a technology contributor for national public radio. We asked whether the iPad really does live up to its hype.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice over): We were wondering is this supposed to be the all-purpose kind of computer, the replacement to your laptop, to your desktop. Likely no, right?

MARIO ARMSTRONG, THEDIGITALSPIN.COM: You're absolutely right. That's why I still say it's going to be very successful. The reason why I had hesitancy is to why people should go out and buy it. Is because I think if you don't have the extra money, hold off. Because newer versions will come out with more features. However, I do say this the pros to this thing, there are a lot of them. You hit it dead spot-on.

This is for the average, everyday casual user. It's not going to replace your current laptop or your desktop computer at home. So it has all the wonderful things you expect, web browsing, being able to consume the media, viewing newspapers and magazines on this thing is amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I was saying that was the feature that I thought was interesting. So each week we show you some of the most interesting videos out there on the Internet and elsewhere, as well. That's where Josh Levs comes in. Give us a preview.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: My weekly dessert, right?

WHITFIELD: I love it.

LEVS: Imagine reaching into YouTube, pulling together a lot of different videos and creating this.

This is the virtual choir. We will show you how they did it and a lot more coming up in "Viral Video Rewind."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Let's take a look at our top stories right now. A Colorado woman arrested in Europe last month now faces terrorism charges here in the United States. Federal prosecutors say Jamie Pollen Ramirez is an accomplice of Colleen Larose, the woman known as Jihad Jane. They say the two women traveled to Europe to live and train with terrorists and take part in violent Jihad. Pollen Ramirez was arrested yesterday when she returned to the U.S.

An attorney for Erin Andrews says the ESPN reporter has been getting death threats. The attorney says at least a dozen threatening e-mails have been sent since last September. The emails discuss the case of Michael David Barrett a man convicted of secretly shooting nude photos of Andrews. The FBI is investigating. A Florida urologist is upset with the new health care bill. He is attracting some unusual attention. Dr. Jack Kasel (ph) has posted a sign on his office door telling people who voted for President Obama to seek urologic care elsewhere. He says he actually has not turned anyone away, but is trying to raise awareness about what he says are problems in the bill.

We'll have much more straight ahead. Right now we like to take a break. Josh Levs brings us some moments of serenity as well as great fun.

LEVS: One thing I love, when you think this is going to start a new trend, right? I have a feeling we are seeing that with these guys who have their own cheerleading squad. Take a look at these guys.

WHITFIELD: They don't look like powder puff boys.

LEVS: They are seniors from Carroll High School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They start off as a joke being silly. Now they have more than 250,000 YouTube hits. So what began as a joke is now a choreographed serious stuff. It's good stuff. I put another section up there. Everyone is watching this online. They're working this stuff. They accepted an all-expense trip to D.C. to dance for the mystics.

WHITFIELD: With the skirts?

LEVS: They have various uniforms. Their ultimate goal is to perform on "Ellen."

WHITFIELD: Her attention might be caught by them. They are inventive. Male cheerleaders aren't that rare. The difference here is these guys are wearing skirts and they start out poking fun at themselves, but they're actually pretty good.

LEVS: And it's an all-male squad that is unusual too. Speaking of something else catching attention right now. There is a singer online named Da Storm. He gets a task from a viewer. Look at what happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is a good one. Hey there, Storm. I challenge you to sing a love song. I can do that, but only using the letters, numbers and symbols on your keyboard. Abicu, are you into d? Are you into U2?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: He uses only the keys. He does a really surprisingly excellent thing. Escape for a period you rewind for a period.

Go to Storm. Ready for your moment of Zen? Every week I deliver a moment of Zen for Fred in the middle of her long block of anchoring. Here you go. The virtual choir. Take a look.

It's really beautiful. This was put together by one man, I believe its Eric Whitaker. He got different videos from people in 12 different countries, 185 people spanning the entire globe. He conducted them in silence. All these people submitted their videos and he put it into this choir song and mixed it perfectly.

WHITFIELD: That's nice. Very soothing.

LEVS: No viral video rewind is full unless we see something adorable. That is the next video here.

WHITFIELD: Where there be an animal here? You know how much I love animals.

LEVS: Real-life buddies. This deer was found abandoned as a fawn. It was bottle-fed and now he poesies with people. He knows how to play with this dog and their friends. What is amazing to me nothing happens in this video, but everyone is clicking on it.

WHITFIELD: I love this. That's sweet.

LEVS: They get along. They're buds.

WHITFIELD: I could probably watch that a long time, too. It's peaceful, cute and fun and makes you smile.

LEVS: One more thing I promised you last hour. We always see people, how do you do that file? This is the last thing for today. Business card ninja man.

WHITFIELD: Yes. How did he do that?

LEVS: He can take a business card and hit anything at all. Anything. Watch what he does. He hits balloons, the camera, and middle of the air. Anywhere it is.

WHITFIELD: If you can hit a flame off a candle, then of course.

LEVS: This started as an ad for a camcorder.

WHITFIELD: He is not a flame thrower but he is a card thrower.

LEVS: Watch out do not be around that man.

WHITFIELD: That could be a weapon.

LEVS: As promised, every single video is on my Facebook page. We always get lots of e-mails from you guys. It's all right there. Type that in your browser. You can tweet me your favorite videos.

WHITFIELD: I wouldn't mind seeing some of those again.

LEVS: She's got Zen thing going.

WHITFIELD: I feel better now. Thank you, Josh.

A CNN investigation, Drew Griffin reveals how a pharmaceutical giant used a shell company to dodge a criminal conviction and a corporate death sentence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When the doctor writes you a prescription for a brand-new drug, is the medicine about to get better or more expensive? Perhaps the doctor was duped by the pharmaceutical company or maybe paid by the drug company. That's what our next story is about. Marketing tactics that pumped up sales at Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, using internal company documents and accounts from insiders, our special investigations unit has exclusive details on what federal prosecutors say was part of a billion dollar fraud. Here is Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is a story of a drug called Bextra, a new kind of painkiller that was supposed to be safer than generic drugs and 20 times the price of ibuprofen.

The companies that sold Bextra? Pfizer and Pharmacia which Pfizer later bought, planned to market Bextra for acute pain, the kind of pain you have after surgery.

(on camera): But, there was a snag. Before the drug hit the market in 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said no.

(voice-over): The FDA told the drug companies Bextra wasn't safe at "patients at high risk for cardiovascular events," so the only pain Bextra was approved for, menstrual cramps and arthritis, and only in moderate doses.

(on camera): But that created a huge problem for Pfizer and Pharmacia. They already had a best-selling arthritis painkiller, Celebrex. They wanted to market Bextra for other kinds of pain.

(voice-over): But it would be against the law to promote Bextra for anything other than menstrual cramps and arthritis. With billions of profits at stake, that is exactly what Pfizer did. According to former employees and federal prosecutors, sales managers around the country dispatched their troops to anesthesiologists, foot surgeons, orthopedic surgeons and oral surgeons, "anyone that use(d) a scalpel for a living," advised one district manager.

LOUIS MORRIS, DHS ATTORNEY: They were pushing this drug for any acute pain.

GRIFFIN: Reporter: Louis Morris is a top lawyer with the department of health and human services.

MORRIS: They pushed the envelope so far past any reasonable interpretation of the law that it's simply outrageous.

GRIFFIN: Even though the FDA warned about the risk of Bextra above 20 milligrams, this sales script says they gave it "a clean bill of health" all the way up to a "40mg" dose, twice what the FDA said was safe. GLENN DEMOTT, FMR PFIZER SALES REP: Sales were very good.

GRIFFIN: Glenn Demotte is a whistle-blower. A former Pfizer sales rep. He would collect reward money from the federal government for inside information on Pfizer's sales tactics.

(on camera): Did the sales rep know what they were doing was illegal?

DEMOTT: They said the district manager approved it. They think it might not be legal, but if they don't make their numbers, they are not going to keep their job anyway, so they might as well go along with what the district manager said.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In fact, there was an elaborate flow chart showing sales reps how to turn doctors into what the company called "true advocates." This marketing plan spells it out in plain English: "Train advocates to serve as public relations spokespeople."

MORRIS: The creativity of sales teams knows no bounds.

GRIFFIN: The annual budget for "medical education" was as much as $43 million. It included paying hundreds of doctors as consultants and to speak to local colleagues. Some were paid to sit on "national advisory boards" or lead educational seminars in beautiful resorts. Pfizer says the company's intent was pure, to learn from the consultants and get feedback from physicians. But, federal authorities say the seminars were for sales.

DEMOTT: The reps I was working with were selecting the speakers based on how many prescriptions they write. And they were actually using the speaker program as a way to encourage them to write more prescriptions.

GRIFFIN: By April 2005, Bextra had racked up nearly $2 billion in profits, more than half for uses not approved by the FDA. But the blockbuster drug was now in big trouble. There were reports of heart attacks in cardiac surgical patients and deadly skin diseases, enough trouble that Bextra was taken off the market. Meanwhile, insiders were blowing the whistle on illegal marketing and the government launched an investigation with the potential to destroy the world's biggest drug company.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pfizer declined our request for an on camera interview, but told us by phone the company takes full responsibility for the illegal promotion. But, who really took the fall? I'll give you a hint, it's not Pfizer. We'll tell but Pfizer's imaginary friend, an imaginary bad guy, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories, right now. An Iraqi official is blaming al Qaeda for a deadly massacre outside Baghdad. Gunmen stormed houses in a predominant Sunni village and slaughtered 25 people, including five women. Most of the victims were members of a group opposed to al Qaeda. Police have arrested 25 people.

And the head of the Anglican Church apologized for remarks he made about the Irish Catholic Church. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Irish church is losing credibility because of the church child sex abuse scandal there. A spokesman says Williams did not mean to criticize the Irish church and he phoned the archbishop of Dublin to express his regrets.

And state and federal authorities are investigating yesterday's deadly refinery explosion in Washington State. Five people were killed, two others badly burned. Officials with Tesoro Corporation said the accident happened during a dangerous maintenance process. Country, state and federal investigators are all conducting probes, now.

So, imagine this, you were charged with a crime, but you had a friend or better yet an imaginary friend take the rap for you. Today, we have the story of just such a crime at the world's largest pharmaceutical company.

Drew Griffin continues our report on a painkiller called Bextra and why the company that used illegal tactics to sell the drug got special treatment when it got caught.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Pfizer Incorporated, it has 116,000 employees. Drugs from A to Z, revenue $50 billion a year. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. So last fall when federal officials announced a major prosecution against Pfizer for fraudulent marketing, it sounded like the government took down the bad guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The largest criminal fine in history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make companies think twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sends a clear message.

GRIFFIN (on camera): But our investigation found another story, one that officials here at the Department of Justice down played on that day they declared victory. It's the story about the power major pharmaceutical companies have even when they break the laws intended to protect patients.

(voice-over): Pfizer got approval in 2001 to market the painkiller Bextra, but only for menstrual cramps and arthritis. Even so, sales reps promoted it illegally for surgical pain and higher doses that the FDA had rejected due to safety concerns. And doctors responded, prescribing Bextra at nearly $3 a pill instead of, say, ibuprofen for pennies.

Bextra was reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in profits at the expense of Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance plans. Mike Loucks, a federal prosecutor in Boston launched an investigation.

MIKE LOUCKS, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Should folks go to jail if they committed a clear violation of law and the government approved it? Yes.

GRIFFIN: Loucks, who recently left the Justice Department, said the case against Pfizer was clear. The illegal conduct was not only "tolerated," but even "encouraged" by sales managers across the country. So who went to jail? No one. Lauks says the evidence just wasn't strong enough to convict any senior executive.

LOUCKS: We made judgments that we did not think we could clear the hurdle at trial.

GRIFFIN: What about charging the corporation as a whole?

(on camera): Just as giant banks down on Wall Street were considered "too big to fail," here on 42nd Street, Pfizer was considered "too big to nail." Why? Because a conviction would automatically trigger the government's ultimate punishment, Pfizer would not be allowed to bill the federal health care programs for any of its products. It's considered to be a corporate death sentence.

MORRIS: If a company like Pfizer is excluded from Medicare and Medicaid, they're out of business.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Louis Morris, a top lawyer at the Department of Health and Human Services told us a Pfizer collapse could leave thousands out of work, millions not getting their drugs.

MORRIS: We have to ask whether by excluding the company are we harming our patients? Are we harming the beneficiaries who need these critical drugs?

GRIFFIN (on camera): Since shutting down Pfizer was unthinkable, Pfizer and the feds cut a deal. Here us how they did it. Pfizer, located here in New York owns a company named Pharmacia corporation, which owns another company called Pharmacia and Upjohn, LLC, which owns Pharmacia and Upjohn Company, LLC, which in turn owns Pharmacia and Upjohn Company Incorporated. What does Pharmacia and Upjohn Company Incorporated do? I can tell you. It's a shell company whose only function is to plead guilty.

(voice-over): Think of it as the great, great grandson of the parent company. Birthday? March 27, 2007. Just in time to plead guilty in a kickback case against the company Pfizer had acquired a few years earlier.

(on camera): With that conviction, Pharmacia and Upjohn company incorporated, which had never sold so much as a single pill, was excluded from Medicare. Two years later, when Pfizer was in trouble with Bextra, Pharmacia and Upjohn Company Incorporated, the shell company, stepped up again and pleaded guilty. It was like having an imaginary friend. An imaginary bad guy to take the rap.

(voice-over): And Pfizer, too big to nail, is still doing business with the federal government.

MORRIS: It is true that if a company is created to take a criminal plea, but it's just a shell, the impact of exclusion is minimal or nonexistent.

GRIFFIN: Did the punishment fit the crime? Pfizer says yes. It paid nearly $1.2 billion in a criminal fine for Bextra, the largest fine ever. It paid $1 billion more to settle civil suits. Although it denies wrong doing on allegations it illegally promoted 12 other drugs. In all, Pfizer lost the equivalent of three months profit. But, even Mike Loucks, who spent more than a decade prosecuting some of the largest drug companies in the country, isn't sure that $2 billion is enough to make big pharma clean up its act.

LOUCKS: I worry that the incentives are so great, the money is so great that that has maybe made dealing with us, the Department of Justice as just a cost of doing business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And earlier, I spoke with CNN's Drew Griffin and asked him what Pfizer's response is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Pfizer declined our request for an on-camera interview. In phone conversations, the chief compliance officer told us Pfizer takes responsibility for the illegal promotion of Bextra and, Fred, says this violation, he considers extremely serious.

WHITFIELD: And so, what happens now?

GRIFFIN: Well, what happens now is Pfizer wants to prevent it from happening again. So, they set up what they call a leading-edge system to monitor sales reps, track prescription sales proactively, basically, looking for signs, Fred, that some of its sales reps might be illegally promoting.

WHITFIELD: And so, how voluntary is this on the part of Pfizer?

GRIFFIN: Yeah, it was not all voluntary. This was part of a plea agreement worked out with the government. They had to sign -- Pfizer did, a corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services. Among other things, it's going to require Pfizer to disclose future payments to doctors and top executives have to actually sign off personally that the company is obeying the law. Pfizer says company's learned its lesson.

WHITFIELD: And so how much has been paid, whether it be to medical professionals or others for consultations, et cetera?

GRIFFIN: Right, it's interesting. I think people were surprised. Pfizer just posted information on the Web site. In the last months of 2009 they paid $17 million to doctors for consulting and speaking about its products. And another $15 million for research in clinical trials.

WHITFIELD: Drew Griffin, thanks so much, appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: On to weather. A flood in new England, storms in Oklahoma. We'll tell you how bad it was and what you can expect for the rest of the weekend in your area.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Things are actually starting to get back to normal. I know these pictures make it hard to believe, but after that heavy flooding in the northeast, some resumption of normalcy. Amtrak has resumed limited train service between New York and Boston using an inland route that bypasses Rhode Island.

And then, onto Oklahoma, they're cleaning up after thunderstorms, which were so strong, it caused this to happen, destroying barns, toppling a tractor trailer rig. And despite this damage, no injuries have been reported. Let's check in with Bonnie Schneider.

Still not sure whether in Oklahoma that was a tornado, right?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).

SCHNEIDER: We did have severe wind damage nearby in Kansas as well from that same system, and now that it's rolling through to the east, it's not as intense. We're tracking interesting weather today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SCHNEIDER: Really beautiful weather and that makes for a very happy bunny.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, I like that bunny. That's a happy bunny.

SCHNEIDER: Can't stop jumping and hopping.

WHITFIELD: And a lot of kids will be very happy that that bunny is able to make it to their neighborhood.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, for candy.

WHITFIELD: That's right, all those Easter egg hunts. All right, thanks so much, Bonnie, appreciate that.

All right, well what inspired a chef at a five-star hotel to change his life? Meet the man who made helping the powerless of India his new ambition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. He was a five-star chef in India, but he gave up that successful career to serve people in the streets of his hometown. Meet our CNN Hero of the week, Naran Krishnan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NARAN KRISHNAN, PROTECTING THE POWERLESS: Because of the poverty India faces so many people are being abandoned by their own family and left uncared on the roadside of the city.

I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food. It really hurt me so much. I was working for a five-star hotel as a chef. I had all the ambitions. I want to excel in whatever I was doing. But the old man changed everything.

My name is Naran Krishnan. I feed and care for the abandoned and mentally ill in my hometown, Madurai, India.

I get up at 4:00 in the morning. Every meal it has been prepared fresh. They go distribute. People are waiting for us. They totally rely on the food which we give. It is a continuous process. Cooking. Distributing. Then again coming.

We are feeding almost about 400 people three meal a day around the clock. (INAUDIBLE) .

People are waiting for us. They totally rely on the food which we give. It is a continuous process. Cooking, distributing, and then again coming. We're feeding almost about 400 people three meal a day around the clock, rain or shine, no holiday.

Others feel difficult to do this. I don't feel it difficult. My mission and my ideas are very clear. The happiness I see in their face keeps me going. I take it in from them. I want to save my people, and I feel that is the purpose of my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Incredible. If you want to nominate someone that you think is changing the world like him, just go to CNN.com/heroes.

Heads up, if you're flying into the U.S., new airport security checks are now in place. We'll spell them out for you.

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WHITFIELD: New airport security checks are now in place. They apply only to people flying into the U.S., and replace ones put in place after the attempted bombing of a jetliner en route to Detroit on Christmas day. Remember that? Well, under the new plan a person would be stopped if he or she fits a specific description of a potential terrorist. The changes were announced yesterday by the Homeland Security Department and come after a three-month review of policies ordered by President Obama in the aftermath of that near-miss attack last December.

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JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY: What we have done is changed the way we screen passengers who are coming internationally into the United States. It is a more Intel or information-based way to screen. It's a stronger way to determine whether passengers should go through secondary examination and not just primary examination. And it will provide a safer and more security international system for American travelers, and that's what we were looking for.

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WHITFIELD: Officials hope the new procedures will close a dangerous security gap that allegedly allowed of Nigerian a Detroit- bound plane in Amsterdam with a bomb hidden in his underwear.